For fans of Lauren Child's Charlie and Lola: The Guardian profiles Lauren as part of their "A life in..." series ("Lauren Child: A life in books," 10/04/2010), accompanied by a gallery of images from Slightly Invisible, her new Charlie and Lola book. I like all of Lauren Child's work, but I'm partial to Charlie and Lola because they remind me of my own kids, who when they were small would insist that I substitute their names when reading aloud.

I especially like Child's portrayal of Charlie and Lola's sibling relationship. Charlie in particular is consistently patient with and protective of Lola, both qualities I try to encourage in my own son. So I wasn't sure what to think when I read that Slightly Invisible, the first new Charlie and Lola book since 2003 (not counting all those spin-offs from the BBC series), was inspired by a boy who asked, "Have you ever thought about writing a book where Charlie actually gets annoyed with Lola?" No!

Anyway, I'm looking forward to Slightly Invisible (and my son will probably love it). This image is from the beginning of the book: there's poor Charlie, caught between Marvin's eyerolling and Lola's plaintive look. The whole scene is instantly recognizable.

Slightly Invisible won't be available in the US til May 2011, but I plan to pick up a copy when we're in London later this year (happy birthday to me!). A traveling exhibition of Green Drops and Moonsquirters: The Utterly Imaginative World of Lauren Child will be at the Discover Children's Story Centre while we're there, too.